1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a content gateway for use by generators and users of content. More specifically, the present invention relates to a content gateway for use in wireless communications that provides a market-place for service providers and content providers to do business and via which end users may access enhanced content on, e.g., wireless telephones.
2. Background of the Invention
In today's world of telecommunications, wireless service providers continue to add more and more content to their service offerings. The wireless communication industry, in its nascent stages, was merely about providing wireless voice communication between users. As the technology has advanced, today's phones and other wireless devices now offer, for example, games, customizable ring tones, text messaging services, the ability to capture and send images, advertising promotions, voting campaigns, internet service, graphics, video, and any number of new service offerings.
There are many wireless service providers or wireless carriers that provide these services via mobile communications devices to the public. The wireless carriers often provide their own content to be used by their customers, but there are also a growing number of independent content providers that develop and market content to be offered to the various wireless carriers. Because of the increasing number of entities in this market place, it is often difficult for independent content providers to identify, develop, and promote the most popular type of content. Also, because some content is device-specific, content providers may not have the kind of marketing information necessary to determine what technology they have already developed that may be worth translating for use on other devices or with other wireless carriers.
In addition to the marketing aspects, there are transactional costs associated with the current market place whereby individual wireless carriers must transact separately with each content provider to provide the content and determine how the providers will be compensated for the usage of the content. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved systems and methods to promote the enhanced content supplied by disparate providers.